The 50th edition of THE PLAYERS Championship is upon us. The $25 million purse is the highest in the Tour and the Majors. The winner will take home $4.5 million, the same as last year. Jack Nicklaus earned $50,000 at the first edition of the prestigious tournament. TPC Sawgrass will once again test the best of the best as they jockey for the swinging golfer trophy. Ahead of the tournament, here is everything you need to know about the unofficial ‘fifth major’ of golf.

History of THE PLAYERS Championship

The tournament was envisioned before the Tour headquarters were established at Ponte Vedra. Then Tour Commissioner, Deane Beman purchased the 413-acre land for... Inflation wasn’t this high, yes, and it was a swamp, but buying the sprawling acres of land for only a dollar required some serious convincing on Beman’s part.

And that’s what Beman did. His initial plan was to buy the Sawgrass Country Club near where TPC Sawgrass stands now. But the owners were unwilling. So, the second Tour Commissioner set out to build a course himself. Buying the swamp land for a dollar from Paul and Jerome Fletcher, Beman set out his plan in January 1979.

A call with maverick course designer, Pete Dye, followed soon after. The property, however, rested just 3 feet above sea level. So, the lakes were dug to mound the course. That also led to the foundation of the famous 17th at Sawgrass. “When I first inspected the proposed site for TPC Sawgrass, my only compatriots in the impenetrable swampy jungle were deer, alligators, wild boar, and deadly snakes,” Dye said. The dollar check that Beman wrote is still displayed in the clubhouse.

How TPC Sawgrass became part of the golf lore?

Sawgrass opened for the public in 1980, but THE PLAYERS, then known as TPC, were first played in 1982. Since then, the course has gone through multiple changes. Foremost, a balance has been achieved. Dye ensured that players teeing off from hole 1 don’t get an undue advantage from golfers on the back nine.

The course, however, wasn’t well received when it first opened. Notable detractors include Jack Nicklaus and Ben Crenshaw. The latter went on to dub the course “Star Wars golf, designed by Darth Vader.” Nicklaus, who missed the cut in the 1982 THE PLAYERS Championship, said, “I’ve never been very good at stopping a 5-iron on the hood of a car.”

Looking back, Dye realized that the course was ahead of its time. “Looking back, I realized that the radical design of the (Stadium) Course was too new for the TOUR professional. They had never seen anything like it,” the legendary course designer wrote in his autobiography, ‘Bury Me in a Pot Dunker.’

So, what’s the deal with the 17th at TPC Sawgrass?

Perhaps the most famous hole in golf history and one of the most notorious holes, too, the 17th, was a result of improvisation. Something very typical of the designer himself. Dye submitted a well-detailed plan to the tour commissioner but often veered off from that.

On the 17th, the idea was to create a green with a lake on its right side. But they excavated so much sand from there that the only thing left was the area for the pin. Knowing of the quandary, Benan’s wife suggested, Why not put a bulkhead and create the green on top?

When Beman floated to Dye, it became an instant hit. What we see today is the result of a decision taken on the fly. The idea was to create more drama in the late stages. Exactly what it has done over the years. In 1998, Len Mattiace, a two-time winner on the Tour, arrived at 18th, one shot behind 1997 Open Champion Justin Leonard. Two shots into the water blew away whatever hopes of a title he had. Leonard eventually clinched the tile by four strokes. Ten years later, Paul Goydos lands his tee shot in the water and gives away the lead to Sergio Garcia in the playoff.

Bob Tway set the record at 9-over-12 in the 17th hole in 2005, while Byeong Hun An almost caught him up in 2021. But the South Korean pro stopped at 11. Fun fact: an amateur scored 66 in 1986 in the 17th. He dunked 27 balls into the water. The scoring average at the 17th is 3.169.

Past winners of THE PLAYERS Championship

Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Greg Norman, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, and Scottie Scheffler””many legendary golfers and generational talents have etched their names in TPC history. However, none have been able to defend their title. Scottie Scheffler will be the first to hoist the swinging golfer trophy on Sunday.

Interestingly, only six players””Jack Nicklaus, Fred Couples, Steve Elkington, Hal Sutton, Davis Love III, and Tiger Woods””have won TPC  more than once. Only Jack Nicklaus has earned bragging rights three times in his career. Greg Norman set a scoring record with a 24-under that is yet to be broken. The Great White Shark also has the lowest first-round and lowest 54-hole score at TPC Sawgrass.

Notably, Scheffler is the only reigning world no. 1 entering the field as the defending champion. Rory McIlroy did it previously, or was supposed to, in 2020, but the event was postponed. The best finish for a defending champion is T5, as ESPN reported.

2024 THE PLAYERS Championship will kick off on Thursday at TPC Sawgrass, its venue for the past four decades. The 144-man field is loaded with big names, including nine former champions. There is a cut after the second round, with 65 players and ties heading to the final two rounds. You can catch all the action live on Golf Channel (first two rounds) and NBC (rounds 3 and 4).